Re: ThinkPad install over ethernet problems

[Kevin Colby <kevinc grainsystems com>]

I've installed on half a dozen different Thinkpads.
(Though never a 760EL, I've done several models.)
I have installed RedHat 5.0 by using the PCMCIA supp disk support,
getting the files off the network via FTP before.  At least,
I'm fairly certain I've done this.  I did have the install fail
to work with PCMCIA cards (network) that _did_ work in installed
systems.  There was no rhyme or reason I could see.

Okay, maybe that wasn't very helpful.
I'd suggest trying different PCMCIA cards.
While PCMCIA support is weird (and not well connected to the kernel),
I'm pretty sure that the install does at least a somewhat passable
job of using it.  Hrm.  That sounded hedgy.  Oh, well.

	- Kevin Colby
	  kevinc grainsystems com


Heresiarch wrote:
> 
> I have been playing with RedHat 5.2 on IBM ThinkPads.  I have got 5.2
> cheerfully installed by using an attached CDROM drive, but I have
> never succeeded in getting a network install to work, whether via FTP,
> SMB, or NFS.  I've tried installs using several models of ThinkPads
> (current torture-test victim is a 760EL) and several models of PCMCIA
> ethernet cards, at two completely different locations with different
> network configurations.  Note that this is not the problem with the
> older Supplemental floppies that fail to mount up.  I have current
> Boot and Supp floppies that appear to work fine.  The install fails
> after the screen where I enter the address of the FTP/SMB/NFS server
> because the install program never has any success with the ethernet
> card.
> 
> I had complete failures when using 3Com EtherLink III cards
> (3C589C/D).  The linklights on the card "pigtails" always shut off
> immediately after the install program made a DHCP request.  There is
> evidence from the alt screens that the DHCP request was successful,
> but after that ethernet connectivity goes away with no errors or other
> diagnostic information.
> 
> I had better luck, or at least got better error messages, when using
> older IBM ethernet cards.  As with the 3Com cards, there is valid IP
> address and network information.  However, a look under alt-f4
> discovers the following roughly-transcribed errors:
> 
> socket 0:  IBM Credit Card Ethernet
> executing:  'insmod /lib/modules/2.0.36/net/8390.o'
> executing:  'insmod /lib/modules/2.0.36/pcmcia/pcnet_cs.o'
> port 0x300, irq 3, mem 0x4026000, 10baseT port, hw_addr 00:04:AC:26:35:51
> cardmgr[14]:  fopen(stabfile) failed:  No such flie or directory
> cardmgr[14]: executing: '.network start eth0'
> cardmgr[14]:  + .network:  /sbin/ifup:  not found
> cardmgr[14]: start cmd exited with status 2
> 
> Further progress doesn't happen because the network isn't working, but
> the install program does not generate any reasonable errors except
> for a failure to connect to whatever server you wanted.
> 
> However, if I install 5.2 on a ThinkPad via an attached CDROM,
> networking will work perfectly after the machine has been installed
> and rebooted into Linux.  If I attempt to re-install or upgrade Linux,
> the network connection will again fail to work.
> 
> It looks to me like the support in the install program for some PCMCIA
> ethernet cards is horribly broken.  If anyone has suggestions for
> things to try, I'll give it a shot.
> 
> Thanks,
> Lauren P. Burka
> Linux Insurrectionist
> 
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